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Des & team accepting award for Best Mirco-Business in Australia

Winner 2003 Telstra Commonwealth Government Micro Business of the Year

DESCEND – WINNERS AGAIN

This time it’s a National Award. The Telstra Commonwealth Government Small Business Awards recognise business excellence in establishments with up to 100 employees. The National Awards are only open to the businesses that won their category in the State awards. Last month, Descend Underwater Training Centre was awarded the best Micro Business in New South Wales and went on to be awarded best Small Business in New South Wales for all categories. The win made Descend eligible for the National title which was presented in the Grand Ballroom of the Sofitel Hotel in Melbourne on Friday night 15th August, 2003.

The awards ceremony is a gala, black tie occasion. The ballroom was decked out in its finest and complete with two huge video screens and about a dozen small screens, spot lights, television crews and a huge sound system pumping out up beat music all added to the excitement.

The MC was Max Walker and the Hon. Joe Hockey M.P. Federal Minister for Small Business presented awards. With a drum roll the National Winner was announced. "Best Micro Business in Australia" Descend Underwater Training Centre. Bringing it home for the diving industry and proving yet again that the diving industry includes some of the best, most professional, dedicated and enthusiastic businesses in Australia.

Descend has been operating for over 27 years. Located inland at Albury some 400km from the nearest diveable coastal water, Des Walters and his team have consistently strived for excellence. Descend first built a solid reputation for training sport divers and has developed a first class diving facility in Albury. They then set about developing what is considered Australia’s best commercial diving training establishment specialising in low visibility, dark, cold water, which Descend believes, produces the best possible commercial divers. Descends instructors ran pilot courses for two other commercial schools who have both continued to use the Descend instructional techniques and training system. In 2002 Descend produced almost 40% of all ADAS Level 3 divers certified in Australia and New Zealand including the Police and Military schools.

Descends success in the commercial diver training industry is attributed to the fact that they have built themselves a reputation as a major inland diving contractor which services the power generation, irrigation and water supply authorities of N.S.W., Victoria and ACT. Projects as diverse as the Sydney Airport Link Rail Tunnel, the Kai Tak Tunnel in Hong Kong and a just completed bridge inspection contract valued at about $200,000, are testament to Descends versatility and experience. The Descend team is currently involved in a major project in Western Victoria replacing stop log guides on an inland reservoir.

For this project Descend have bought in a specalised drilling rig from Germany, thought to be only one of its type in Australia. The project will be completed using diamond drills and chemical anchors, hot water suits, closed circuit video, helmet cams, all run from Descends own 6 metre work boat.

When asked about his business philosophy, Descends’ G.M. Des Walters said it could be summed up in about six words.

Passion, dedication, knowledge, honesty, service and a stubborn streak that refuses to accept failure. If descend has achieved all this its no wonder they have been awarded -

BEST MICRO BUSINESS IN AUSTRALIA

For more photos of the awards please select the link below:

http://www.descend.com.au/training/gallery/PhotoGallery.asp?whichcategory=Winner%202003%20Telstra%20Business%20Awards%20&AreaID=17

DESCEND WINS BEST SMALL BUSINESS IN NEW SOUTH WALES
Val & Des with award for best business in NSW

There are over 340,000 small businesses in New South Wales alone. A small business is officially classified as being between 1 – 100 employees and these businesses contribute millions of dollars to the Australian economy.
They are the risk takers and they usually risk their own money, depend on their own talents, and often create their own markets. They are generally described as innovative, entrepreneurial and highly skilled, as well as often over worked and under acknowledged.

The Telstra New South Wales Government Business Awards strives to at least partly correct the last point. The awards do acknowledge excellence in small business in four categories: 1 – 5 employees, 6 – 20 employees, 20 – 50 employees and 50 – 100 employees.

From the four state category winners, the judges then select an overall winner as the New South Wales business of the year. It is almost unheard of that a micro business with 1 – 5 employees could compete successfully with businesses with up to 100 employees, but this year that is exactly what happened. The well known Descend Underwater Training Centre, located in Albury, took off the Micro Business award and then was named as the best small business in NSW, an absolutely stunning achievement for a small regional business.

Descend has been in operation for 27 years training sport divers and in addition Descend is accredited by the Commonwealth Government via the Australian Diver Accreditation Scheme to train commercial divers. In addition Descend has also developed a commercial diving contracting team that specialises in the cold, low visibility diving involved with the inland irrigation, water supply and power generation industries.

Managing Director of Descend, Mr. Des Walters, said he was delighted with the award. "I am proud that the award has gone to the diving industry helping to raise our own profile and proving that you don’t have to be big to be a quality operation and that businesses in regional centers can compete successfully both in the National and International markets. "

"Descend has had an enormous year", he said. " Our turnover is up 34% on last year, we have expanded our premises by another 150 sq. metres, and the demand for our contracting teams has caused us to commission a second team, complete with a second work boat to service the demand. Following the success we enjoyed on the Sydney Rail Runnel, we won a similar project called the Kai Tak project in Hong Kong, and we recently completed an eight week bridge inspection program at a cost of some $200,000."

"Our team one is currently working on a complex project at a reservoir in Western Victoria to replace stop log guides. The project requires 25 metres of cast iron to be cut with Boroko ultrathermic rods, then the boring of over fifty, 24mm diameter holes horizontally through 25mm of steel, then into 170mm of re-inforced concrete. Finally the new guides will be secured with chemical anchors. A major project by anyone’s standards as it is all completed in low visibility very cold water, which is contaminated with blue green algae. "

In addition Descend has kept to their strenuous commercial diver training schedule, last year producing about 40% of all level 3 divers from all eleven

ADAS Schools in Australia, New Zealand including Navy and Police schools.

The award is considered a just reward for many years of dedication to excellence.

Congratulations Descend.

For ABC article on Award please select link below:

http://www.abc.net.au/nsw/stories/s914033.htm

Yet Another Award for Descend

Following hot on the heels of being awarded the 'Best Small Business in the Albury region' and then their award for 'Hyperbaric Excellence' for work in the Sydney Airport Link Rail Tunnel, Descend has done it again.

This time it's the Federal Government Telstra Small Business awards. Out of 1141 entries in New South Wales, Descend was awarded as a finalist which puts them in the top six small businesses in New South Wales.

The team was presented with the award in the Westin Hotel Grand Ballroom on 7th July, 2001, by the Hon. Ian McFarlane MP, Federal Minister for Small Business.

Award For Hyperbaric Excellence

"An Albury company has won recognition for its role in training the workers who helped construct the new underground railway tunnel linking Sydney airport to the central business district.

Descend Underwater Training Centre received an award for hyperbaric excellence from the Federal Government at a ceremony in Sydney.

The medical director of the Prince of Wales Hospital hyperbaric unit in Sydney, Dr Michael Bennett, paid tribute to the role of the Albury company at the presentation.

"The striking thing we can gather from our statistics is that there have been only seven cases of decompression illness in the 8000 hours under pressure, " DR Bennett said.

"This is, by any world standard, an extraordinary low rate and a tribute to the training Descend Underwater Training Centre has given, to the safety practices at work, to the vigilance of the lock operators and to everyone concerned."

The Albury centre originally won the contract in 1996 and construction work on the 10km tunnel was completed in May 1999."

The Border Mail July 1999

BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AWARDS ON THE BORDER 2006

Winner - Excellence in Business & Community Partnerships

Recognising businesses committed to enhancing the life of the community.

Small Business Field Officer Individual Achievement in Business - Community Leadership Award - Awarded to Des Walters

Recognising personal and business excellence and community leadership demonsrated by an individual who has made a significant contribution to their profession and their business, the economic development of Albury Wodonga and to the community.

Certificate of Merit - Excellence in Diversity in the Workplace

Recognising businesses actively encouraging the inclusion of a diverse employee base in their workplace.

Certificate of Merit - Excellence in Business & Professional Services